As we got ready, one of the robbers suddenly rushed forward, swinging a heavy club toward us. Another moved in from the side, raising a gun with shaky hands.
Gwen froze for a brief moment at the sight of it. I could not blame her. This was her first time wearing the spider mask, her first real step into this world.
"Arachne, calculate all possible options."
Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention. I now had my own version of JARVIS, an AI I built myself. I called her Arachne. I thought about Silka at first, but the name reminded me too much of Cindy.
"Scanning possibilities," Arachne replied calmly.
Arachne, referred to as a she, immediately got to work. Her systems analyzed the robbers, the shop layout, and every object within reach. "There are approximately forty one possible ways to immobilize the situation."
One of the robbers lunged at me. I reacted on instinct and fired a web straight into his face, yanking him off balance and slamming him into a shelf.
"Make that thirty nine now," Arachne said dryly.
I turned back to Gwen and gently shook her shoulder, snapping her out of it. "Hey. You okay? This is your first time."
"Yeah," she said, breathing out slowly. "Sorry. I just kinda paused there for a sec."
Before I could respond, another robber charged toward us. Gwen's spider sense kicked in, sending a sharp warning through her body.
Her eyes widened and her hesitation vanished. She fired a web at a nearby metal can and pulled it back with force, her movement fast and almost instinctive.
The can slammed into the robber, knocking him backward, but his knife slipped from his hand and struck him in the back as he fell.
Gwen stood there for a moment, staring at what she had just done, her chest rising and falling rapidly. I could see the shock in her eyes, mixed with fear and adrenaline.
She clenched her fists, steadying herself, then looked at me again. This time, she did not freeze.
She was ready.
We tied the robbers upside down with our webs and made a quick exit before the police surrounded the store. Sirens echoed through the streets as we swung away, the city lights blurring beneath us.
We moved across the skyline and eventually landed on top of a high rise building. The night wind brushed past us as we sat on the edge, our feet dangling far above the streets below.
"Sorry I burdened you, Pete," Gwen said softly.
Man. She was making those puppy eyes again. It should be illegal how cute that look was.
I let out a sigh and leaned back on my hands. "Don't take this out on yourself, Gwen. Take it as a lesson, alright."
She looked up at me and gave a weak smile, the tension in her shoulders finally easing. I handed her a slice of pizza I had picked up earlier.
We ate together in comfortable silence, watching the city breathe below us before heading back down into action.
The rest of the night was quieter. We handled small crimes and everyday troubles. A stolen purse returned to its owner.
A lost item tracked down. A bit of detective work here and there. Nothing world ending, but it felt good helping people.
Eventually, we swung over to the police station rooftop where Yuri usually waited to exchange information and plan ahead.
The moment she saw Gwen as in her spidersuit, her eyes widened at the sight of another Spider Man. "Honto, omaewa," she muttered before letting out a tired sigh.
I explained everything to her, leaving out the part about Gwen who has gotten her powers. Yuri listened carefully, arms crossed, clearly not thrilled but accepting it.
She then filled me in on the mask I stopped last year, telling me it was tied to a dynasty period.
That information immediately pushed Martin Li higher on my list. Still, something bothered me.
I remembered meeting him for the first time when Aunt May created a organize charity community. And she hired Martin Li for the job since his resume did had high praise of him being a mamager.
Now though, I had no idea where he lived or what he was doing.
"Alright, I'll get back to you in a day's work, Yuri," I said, hanging upside down just to mess with her.
"Remember, no Spider Cop this time," she replied without looking back.
I gasped dramatically. "You can't stop Spider Cop. You know Spider Cop is a bad cop with a bad side, Yuri."
I could clearly hear Gwen struggling to hold in her laughter under her mask. As Yuri left, Gwen suddenly jumped onto me again, wrapping her arms around my shoulders.
"Really?" I asked.
"Sorry," she said, pressing closer. "But yeah. I'm burning up again."
Dammit. One of these days, when I finally had time, I was definitely going to make an antiserum for this.
I should call it Anti Horny Serum.
Comedy, right?
Right?
She took off her mask and licked her lips, then pulled down the top part of her suit and untied her bra.
"String tied?!" I blurted out before I could stop myself.
She tilted her head and smirked. "Like what you see, tiger?"
Dammit. Big boobs bouncing. My only weakness.
She had her way with me for an hour, and by the time it was over, she finally pulled her spider suit back on. The strange spider heat between us slowly settled down, leaving the air heavy and warm.
"Sorry about that, Petey," she said, sounding almost shy now.
"No worries," I replied, though my body very much disagreed.
My back hurt, and there were those puppy eyes again. How was she even doing that?
We swung back to my place and quickly changed back into our regular clothes. The moment our feet hit the floor, we rushed upstairs as fast as possible, trying not to make too much noise.
Halfway up the staircase, Uncle Ben caught us. He looked us over, noticing how red our skin still was, and smiled knowingly. He made a quiet humming sound and held something out.
"Use these."
He handed me a small box and headed back downstairs like nothing happened. I looked down and realized what it was.
Condoms.
"Is your Uncle Ben trying to play Cupid?" Gwen asked, clearly amused.
"Ah no. Not this again, Gwen," I groaned.
We hurried into my room. I tossed the box aside and we sat down to work on homework. Of course. Gwen struggled with a few questions, leaning closer until I walked her through them step by step, like always.
"Huh. You're easier to understand than the textbook," she said. "Were you a teacher in your past life too, Pete?"
I chuckled. "For your information, I got into Empire State University. And when I hit forty, I started teaching there as a lecturer. For some reason, though, all the teenage girls looked at me differently."
Gwen immediately shot me a glare filled with jealousy. "How differently, Peter Parker?"
"Uh," I hesitated. "I had a beard and a goatee. And glasses."
Before I could say anything else, Gwen pushed me down onto the bed and climbed on top of me.
"Again?!" I protested, trying to sit up, but she pinned me down effortlessly, staring at me like I had personally offended her.
"I can picture it perfectly in my mind, Peter Parker," she said.
She reached over, grabbed the box I had tossed aside earlier, and used her teeth to tear it open, pulling one out with deliberate intent.
She looked down at me with hungry eyes again, but this time there was something more behind them. Something focused.
"I'll just have to make sure," she whispered, "that in the future, you're marked forever, daddy."
"...?"
Oh.
Yeah.
Now I finally understood why those girls were looking at me like that back then, when I was a lecturer at ESU.
"Ah shit, here we go again."
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Chapter 26 — End.